Material transporters are used for spreading numerous types of materials over a ground surface, and spreaders of a particular type have been developed for use of turf maintenance, such as those used in the care of golf courses, where special attention must be taken to provide very even distribution of the material so as to leave the grass and adjacent areas in a well groomed condition. Moreover, it is useful that the same equipment used in making fine applications of materials such as light soil, sand and fertilizer on the greens and fairways can also be used in making even distribution of other materials, which may have other characteristics, including coarse materials, such as crushed rock, drain rock and other materials utilized as path materials. It is also desirable in some areas to have equipment capable of neatly spreading other bulky material or those which tend to clump or cling together such as mower clipping, bark material or aerified lawn cores.
Many of the existing material transporters and associated broadcasting units are of a design which have limited abilities in spreading different materials or in switching from making light to heavy applications in a single pass. While various units having completely different operating characteristics have been developed for separate attachment to the rear of available material transporters for handling certain materials of varying nature, the procurement and maintenance of such units add significantly to the cost of maintaining turf.